Orocrambus catacaustus

Orocrambus catacaustus
Male
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Crambidae
Genus: Orocrambus
Species:
O. catacaustus
Binomial name
Orocrambus catacaustus
(Meyrick, 1885)[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Crambus catacaustus Meyrick, 1885
  • Orocrambus pervius Meyrick, 1912

Orocrambus catacaustus is a moth in the family Crambidae.[1] It was described by Edward Meyrick in 1885. This species is endemic to New Zealand and has been recorded from the South Island. This species can be found in the subalpine zones as well as in mountain valleys and frequents swampy or boggy habitat or open limestone valleys. Adult moths are day flying and have been observed from December until March.

Taxonomy

This species was first described in 1885 by Edward Meyrick and originally named Crambus catacaustus.[3] Meyrick went on to give a more detailed description later in 1885.[4] In May 1888 Meyrick placed this species in the genus Orocrambus.[5] In 1912 Meyrick, thinking he was describing a new species, named this moth Orocrambus pervius.[6] George Hudson discussed and illustrated this species under this name in his 1928 book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand.[7] Hudson also discussed O. pervius in his 1951 book Fragments of New Zealand entomology arguing that this species should be considered a form of O. catacaustus. In 1962 Bleszynski and Collins synonymised O. pervius with O. catacaustus.[8] D. E. Gaskin reexamined O. catacaustus discussing and illustrating it under this name in 1975 and confirmed the synonymisation of O. pervius.[9] John S. Dugdale also discussed this species under this name in 1988.[2] The male lectotype specimen, collected at Arthur's Pass by R. W. Fereday, is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[2]

Description

Illustration by Hudson.

The wingspan of the adults of this species is 21–27 mm.[9] Hudson described O. catacaustus as follows:

The expansion of the wings is about 7⁄8 inch. The fore-wings are dark bronzy-brown with a rather narrow, cream-coloured, straight central longitudinal streak from the base to the termen; the costa is also very narrowly edged with white in the male; the cilia are dark grey with white tips. The hind-wings are very dark grey, with bronzy reflections; the cilia are grey tipped with white.[7]

O. catacaustus is similar in appearance to O. aethonellus but is of a larger size. The most reliable way to distinguish between these two species is via genitalia examination.[9]

Distribution

O. catacaustus near Arthur's Pass.

This species is endemic to New Zealand and is found in the South Island.[10][9]

Behaviour

Adults have been recorded on wing from December to March.[9] They are day flying and are very active in hot sunshine.[7]

Habitat

This species is associated with swampy or boggy habitat or open limestone valleys.[9][7] It can be found in subalpine habitat.[7]

Reference

Wikimedia Commons logo
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Orocrambus catacaustus.
  1. 1 2 Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia: chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 457. ISBN 978-1-877257-93-3. LCCN 2011379669. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
  2. 1 2 3 Dugdale , J. S. (23 September 1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa". Fauna of New Zealand. 14. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research: 146–147. doi:10.7931/j2/fnz.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  3. ↑ Edward Meyrick (January 1885). "Description of New Zealand Microlepidoptera. V. Pyralidina". New Zealand Journal of Science. 2: 347. Wikidata Q115123797. BHL page 41863429
  4. ↑ Edward Meyrick (May 1885). "Art. XII. — Descriptions of New Zealand Micro-Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 17: 134. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q110063611. BHL page 33934564 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ↑ Edward Meyrick (May 1888). "Notes on New Zealand Pyralidina". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 20: 67. ISSN 1176-6166. Wikidata Q124059700. BHL page 3746614
  6. ↑ Edward Meyrick (10 June 1912). "Descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 44: 118. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q109393380. BHL page 3304645
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Hudson, G. V. (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 159, LCCN 88133764, OCLC 25449322, Wikidata Q58593286 BHL page 61899770 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  8. ↑ S Błeszyński; Reginald J. Collins (1962). "A Short Catalogue of the World Species of the Family Crambidae (Lepidoptera)". Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia. 7 (1–2): 239. ISSN 0065-1710. Wikidata Q116733304.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 D. E. Gaskin (September 1975). "Revision of the New Zealand Crambini (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae: Crambinae)". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 2 (3): 305–306. doi:10.1080/03014223.1975.9517878. ISSN 0301-4223. Wikidata Q47478306.
  10. ↑ "Orocrambus catacaustus (Meyrick, 1885)". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.